“You guys want me there, I am there and I’m ready to defend,” Bryant said. “And then when you guys need me to put some points on the board, I’ll do that, too…”

“It’s a huge honor to be a part of that,” Bryant said.

Kobe played a key role — becoming the defensive stopper for Team USA plus scoring some points — in winning the gold medal in Beijing. However, Kobe will be 34 by the time of the London games.

Getting players will not be the problem for Coach K in the run-up to London, virtually every healthy top player will sign up. It will be forming them into a team. But he pulled it off pretty well in China, so…